HarvestPlus is partnering with the Federal Ministries of Agriculture and Food Security, and Health, and the Kaduna State Government to host the 9th edition of Nutritious Food Fair in Kaduna State.
Director, Development Aid Coordination, Budget and Planning Commission, Kaduna State, Aisha Muhammad, who disclosed this at a press briefing on Friday, said this year’s edition is tagged “Transforming Food Systems for Improved Nutrition and Climate Resilience”, and will take place at the Musa Yar’adua Hall, Murtala Square, Kaduna, from Saturday to Sunday, December 9 and 10, 2023, at 9:00am daily.
She said the Nutritious Food Fair fits into the Kaduna State development agenda, hence the decision of the state government to provide the enabling environment that will stimulate investment in the nutritious food sector and ensure every man, woman and child who needs nutritious food in Kaduna State is able to have access.
The director disclosed that the two-day annual event will attract stakeholders in the nutritious food space including policymakers, researchers, farmers, and food processors, among others, to showcase and market innovations, share updates, and discuss topical issues emerging in the nutritious food sector.
“The Food Fair anticipates over 100 commercial exhibitors, government officials, key private sector players, and 5,000 participants during the two-day event. Other attractions include panel & business discussions, business deal rooms, quiz competition (NutriQuiz), cooking competition (Nutrikitchen), job clinics, entertainment, and hands-on training.
“The fair will also provide an operational platform for collective engagement, learning, job creation for youths, building new business linkages, opportunities, and synergies in the nutritious food sector. We urge you to come to the fair and see, hear and learn,” she stated.
Also speaking, the country director, HarvestPlus Nigeria, Dr.Yusuf Dollah, said, research institutes develop varieties and seed companies multiply the varieties into certified seeds, while farmer-based organizations and processors who use the crops as raw materials to process into products for marketers, and every stakeholder within the value chain.
He said, “We also expect to see more private sector engagement; the SMEs, the financial institutions, and the regulatory agencies, we expect to see them on the ground to come and showcase the cost-effective technologies available to solve the nutrition problems we have.
“We are also partnering with the government at the federal levels to the state levels. At the federal level, we have the Federal Ministry of Agriculture, the Federal Ministry of Health, and the Federal Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning.”
He said they were partnering with the government because they wanted the government to create an enabling environment through her policies, “because in agriculture, all efforts at promoting the agricultural value chain without an enabling environment will be a waste of time and resources.”
The country director said that they can’t address food security without considering the issue of nutrition, hence you hear food and nutrition security, adding that the food we eat must contain the essential micronutrients and vitamins that our bodies require for us to live healthy lives.
“So we have gone ahead to develop these varieties so that the vulnerable groups in the villages that cannot buy foods like those in urban areas can also grow foods and have access to these nutritious foods.
“Also as children grow, attention is given to critical nutrients that are essential for their development. Missing these essential nutrients can expose them to permanent deformity. Nutrition experts can tell you that in the first 1000 days of the development of a child is critical.
“If a child misses these essential micronutrients and vitamins can impair the development of the brain of the child. If we take a critical look at the Nigerian state, most of the areas with nutrition issues are the areas with the highest rates of insecurity challenges so we can safely conclude that our problem begins with nutrition and nutrition is every ones problem,” he stated.
